Electrical connection



Y @et 2j', 192g.,

` f K. HUNCIKER- ELECTRICAL CONNECTION 4 Eild' Aug. 29, 1927 INVENTOR.

` KARL Hu/vc/KER ATTORNEYS;

Patented Oct.. 2, i928.'

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' j on carence, "n tmoI'sQ-f' This invention relates to 'imp'rovements in proximity to` vthe tiltin and coni-.jf 'neet these binding post'sjb' ilexible leads 'v Af the lead-inwires of the'.1' fhas bcenfound in practicethatitjis ver'y difficult to make a good connection `between'' the-lead-in wires and 'a flexible lead com-f Y .prising a singleilexible wire' as tl1e.'twomust v electrical connectionsA and 4more particularly to a ii'exible connectionto a tilting mercury tube switchj 5"*2'1 '-5' 5, .Switches of fthi's character 'comprise a' sealed glass tube having twoorfmore spaced .apart terminals, in'- accordance with the number of' ciruits vto vhe`." ':'o1 1 t'rol1ed,.. entering through and -'sealed in the 'walls .thereof vand i510 containing zip-sufficient .amount of electrical Inosttheiu'id HOW into'. that end 4and' close the circuitfbetween the terminals in-'that first mentioned] vSwitches"ofth'i's character are. mounted upon mechanismsjwhich when .2o `actuated will impart a 'quick movement 'to mitsl .controlled '1 -thereby" without excessive -vide a flexible connection betweeni-the`terminais ofthe circuits carried #oni the glass tube.-

:Justment of the newires when iexedso:

and vthe conductors 'of the'j'ercuits leading thereto.

tube' switches 'are'A '-'employed to 40 control circuits in'. many' lelectricaliziyfoperashers,' oil burning andrefri'gerating plants, and the I ated devices, such a's' electric-sign like, 'in which thetube is actuated many times Va day during the-normal operation vof '45 the device to which -it is applied. It is,

therefore', necessary' that the lead-in wires of the mercury tubes be provided with 'a' connection to the conductors oi the circuit, or circuits,` controlled by it which-'will be 5o flexiblefat' all times, during long periods of operation, 'after long periods of rest, and be of indenite lieas many of 'these switches are designed to be operated millions of times during the operation of the devices with* 55 which they are employed. It is preferable to connect the conductors of the circuits to Y. nppneamn med August 29, 19'27. 'senainu-Imes.

'strands of-Very fine wires,l -however' Themost eiicientter'minals' comv30 prise short lengths of small 'j stiii'. 'wire sealed in the glass wall andeXtendingashort 'dis-S nnncrmcnnconnnoriionvf j be controlled' to, station O f'fthe lead at'the same' 'placejustaboveeits j f rlgid joint'jsoon .causes it to break. MostriiieX-ible'conductors" .comprise a -pluralityiof satte- 17o fine'wires forming the' strands lie'fp'arallel to 'each other it is not" only diiiicultt solder. such4 ati-conductor' to' .a'-"leadi'n'w-ir faV mercury tube switchbut 'also the T cont u edj iexing of the samewi'res atthexsameplace '75 and in 'the same direction;"adiacenti'their ends attached-to the lead-in wiresrcauses'v'theindividual `wires of the. strandseto breakfu Ithas been .found that'affleadjof. many fine". wires braided together'f'in the J form 'soi 1 a tubewill make a most desirable' conductor' Ij 'for-this purpose because a 'tubekof many iine'braidedwires allows an individual' acithat there is no continued sharpv ben'di'ngl of.' E85 'any one wire during the operation V'o fl'the mercury tube' switch. ltis' ano'bject fof thisv invention to provide-'an improved manner in which to forman electrical connection between the short' 'rigid projecting lead-in 90 :wires cfa mercury tube switch and a tubu- .lar' lead vformed of many fine `wires braided together which will withstandindenite flexation of the lead .adjacent vthe switch' witlout disrupting the joint or breaking the .95 lea.- Y' `While the preferred' forms of this inven- I tion are illustratedv on the accompanying' sheet ofdrawing, it is to' be understood that minor detail changes may be made without 10'@ departing from the scope thereof.'

In the drawing: l Figurel is a vertical sectional vview taken alongthe longitudinal centerline of a com'- mercial mercury tube switch, illustrating one 105 Figures 3A and' 4 are detail views in plan and -side elevation, respectively,- .ofanotherv y 'form of connecting link shown in Figure 1.

rure1.". .n

v The mercury tube switch illustrated 1n section inhhgureA I1 is of commercial con- Figure 5 is a detailvv plan view of another formof connecting link 'illustrated in-Fig'- struction in- Which the lead-in wires '1 are sealed in the .glass walls 2 of the. mercury tube andy are provided withl the customary' enlarged interior 'endsv adapted to Abejengagediby the mercury .3

when the tube .is

l sued inc-their' fin-eenen. The ambie, lead is illustrated as compris-inga tubular c onductor 4t 'of yfine' wires braidedtogether with and soldered'at the other end to thei'leadI-in I wire,

The, provision f the @meeting ananas manyadvantages'in simplifying the labor of assembling the switch Inechanis1n4 It is seldomgthat a manufacturer of switchv mechanismsfor the market is'also able to manu- .Y

facture the flexible .tubular 'leads and the glassmercury tubes'so' that the leads are usually"boughtg` from' an electrical supply house. and the mercury tubes from a tube factory and the switch.." operating mechanism after manufacture mustbe assembled with thelead' andv mercury tube which reuires an accurate soldering of the lead to t e 'lead-in wire of the tube before the tube' .andfree' end-of thel-e'ads are secured in place in the switch operating mechanism.

The connecting link 4Glof .the type illus- 'trated in Figure 2 in detail andshown in position joined to the' second Afrom the left lead-inwire in Figur'eil, comprises a short length of rigid wire similar in material and diameter to that of the-l'ead-in wire 1.

pointed endv is inserted within'the interior of the' tubular lead 4,.'as shown in Figure 1,

and soldered-thereto by applying the solder Y to the exterior of thetube, after the sheathing 5 has beenpushed back from the end,

which readily passes through the interstices' of the braided fine wire tothe body of the link to form a continuousvjoint about its entire surface. As the llead and link are both products of the'electrical supply house,

"this connection "is properly-.made there in theproduction of the lead for the market.

The electrical supply house also provides vas a part of the lead the sleeve of fabric or linsulating material? snugly engaging the eX- terior of the sheathing 5, the purposev of which will be hereinafter described.

It is then seen thatthe lead complete can bc supplied by the electrical supply house The link is `shown pointed at one end. Thev i-,egaze wire by .the assembler of the switch. While it requires 'carefuland accurate handling of the link'A to be inserted withinl thetubular v lead andcareful and accurate soldering `of l,these `parts to each other,

it requires less time, care, lor accuracy to assemble'the lead and tube. As shown, about one half of the link is inserted within and secured to -the tubular conductorwso that in assembling the `lead and tube, vthe projecting exterior por- .Y tion of lthelink is placed against the eXteriorv part of the lead-in wire 1- and .solder applied A'toi-complete. the electrical connection-, thereafter the 'sleeve 7 Ais drawn down Auntil it cont-acts with the glass body o f theand is* ready foratta'chmentto the lead-in tube '2- about 'the' lead-in wire and completes an linsulated"connection between -the. tube and lead.;f

The connection between' the lead-in Wire and 'flexible lead shown at- -the leftof Figure-1 is one 'which' is preferable when it is desired to have the lead extend'in a direc-' tion-at right angles to the switch tube, as shown, and in such case the link 6 isrpreferably a stra-ight piece of wire, as illustrated in Figure 2, .which can be placed parallel to the lead-in wire and be in engagement therewith; throughout itslength.' In some cases it is desirablev to connect the lead so that it will extend parallel to the longitudinal center line. of the tube. terior portion of the lead-in wire would have to be bent at right angles to itselfwhich not only is avery delicateoperation after it has been sealed in the glass wall but the bendingv of the stift` wire and the strain-upon the bend thereafter during the continued operation ofthe switch produces an undesirable weakness. To meet vthese conditions, `this invention contemplatesthe formation -of the connecting link 6 -as shown in Figure 5, by providing atthe lower end a loop In such cases the eX- 8 before the link isattached to* the tubular ilo in a complete electrical connection is made by soldering the loop to the lead-in wire. -This invention also contemplates applying this means of connection. for a lead. extending at right angles totheftube, by forming the loop 8 at right angles to the main body of the link, asshown in Figures 3 and" 4..'

The loop 8 is inserted overthe ,lead-in wire and soldered thereto, as illustrated in the secondvlead from the right of Figure 1.

What I claimv is: 1. An electrical connection between a Hexible lead composed of a plural-ity of fine wires braided together to form atube and a lead-in-wire sealed in a'glass vwall and projecting thereabove, comprising a connecting link having one end received within and soldered to the tubular lead and the projectingend lthereof engaging and-soldered to the projecting part of the lead-in wire.

2. An electrical connection between atubular lead composed of a plurality of strands of fine wiresl braided together and a lead-in Wire sealed in a glass wall and projecting thereabove, comprising a connecting link having one end entering within the tubular lead and soldered thereto and/the projecting end formed with 4a loop receiving and en` vgaging the projecting lead-in wire and soldered thereto. Y A

3.v An electrical connection between a tubular iexible lead frmed of a plurality of lstrands of fine wires braided together and a projecting rigid lead-in wire sealed in .the glass wall of a mercury tube switch, comprising a connecting link of 'Wire of the same in wire. 4

4. An electrical connection between a tucharacter and size as the lead-in Wire having a portion engaging and soldered to the interior of the tubular lead and a' portion engaging and soldered to the projecting leadbular flexible lead formed of a plurality of strands of ne wires braided together andaJ projecting rigid lead-in wire vsealed in the glass wall of a mercury tube switch, comprising a connecting link of wire of the same character and size as the lead-in wire having a portion engaging and solderedto the interioi of the tubular lead and the exterior' anni. uniforme.

27th day. 

